Children's Home run by Care Haven (UK) Limited in Stockport

Inspection report children's home: SC065374 1 SC065374 Registered provider: Care Haven (UK) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately run children’s home. It provides care for up to five children. The provider states in their statement of purpose that they provide care for children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2015.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 2 November 2021

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC065374 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/11/2021 Full Good 10/03/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/07/2018 Full Good 06/12/2017 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC065374 3

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Inspection judgements

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

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Inspection judgements

Children have experienced significant changes in the staff caring for them. The majority of the team have left since the last inspection. This does not promote stability for children living in the home. Staff remaining in the home have worked hard to cover additional shifts to help provide some continuity of care. However, the reduction in staffing levels resulted in the kitchen door being locked on occasion. This meant children had limited access to certain areas in the home. Internal locks have since been removed in the home.

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Inspection judgements

The home environment has several areas which are in need of improvement. This is mainly due to wear and tear, including the kitchen worktops which need replacing. These maintenance issues were only identified the week before this inspection. Repairs to the furniture in one child’s bedroom remained outstanding for three months. Another child’s bedroom was being redecorated during this inspection. However, the child had been without an appropriate window covering for a month. The delay in addressing these issues does not show children that they are valued.

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Inspection judgements

The quality of staff’s relationships with children differs within the team. The inspector observed some positive interactions between staff and children. However, children are not receiving appropriate support from all staff, all of the time. Children told the inspector that they feel that some of the recent changes within the team are helpful in terms of the atmosphere in the home. Feedback from parents reflects this view on changes within the staff team.

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Inspection judgements

Staff do not consistently understand children’s needs. Staff access support for children from specialist health services. However, there are gaps in staff’s knowledge and training. Consequently, staff do not have the skills to meet all children’s needs. One professional working with a child identified gaps in staff’s knowledge related specifically to one child’s individual needs. Feedback from professionals in relation to support provided by staff was positive overall.

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Inspection judgements

Children have made differing progress from their starting points. One child has achieved good attendance at school, while another struggles to engage in learning. However, without a full understanding of how children communicate their needs, both verbally and through their behaviour, staff are unable to support them to fully engage in their learning. Staff have supported children to develop their independence skills.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Children living in the home are not consistently and adequately safeguarded. The risk management plans for one child do not provide staff with appropriate strategies to mitigate all identified risks. This includes the known risk of the child previously being in the possession of a knife in the home. There is no ongoing monitoring Inspection report children's home: SC065374 4 following a further concern in relation to the child trying to purchase a knife online. When staff are provided with guidance, this is not always appropriate. This includes the manager’s strategy of the possible use of restrictive physical intervention in response to verbal abuse.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Staff’s use of restrictive physical intervention in response to one child who displayed behaviour that challenged them was significant. The child’s needs were not adequately assessed on moving into the home. Staff therefore did not have all the necessary skills to meet these identified needs. This resulted in one restrictive physical intervention not being proportionate in response to the child’s behaviour. Although the necessity of the hold was questioned by the registered manager, there was no learning identified from this, or relevant changes made to strategies identified in the child’s individual plans.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

There is inconsistency in the quality of the recording of each restrictive physical intervention, including missing information about how long a child was held and variable descriptions of how the child was held. These inconsistencies were not identified when reviewed by the registered manager. When the manager was involved in a hold, there was no review by someone from the senior leadership team. One child was held by another child and a staff member, which was entirely inappropriate and not safe for either child. This was due to the member of staff working on their own in the home at that time.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Assessments completed for one child accompanying a member of staff and the staff member’s family on holiday did not reflect all known risks. There was no appropriate vetting undertaken by the manager as part of the risk management plan for the holiday. The manager did not ensure that there was effective monitoring of these risks, through contact with the staff member, during the holiday. Another child has the personal telephone number of a staff member. The senior leadership team was not aware of this prior to the inspection, to enable this to be addressed. Safeguarding practice is not effective due to a lack of oversight by the management and senior leadership team.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Allegation management in the home is inadequate. Concerns raised in relation to staff are not consistently investigated and responded to effectively. One allegation relating to two staff members was responded to by the registered manager. However, only one staff member was considered in the investigation. An allegation regarding another staff member was recorded as having been investigated but no internal investigation report was provided to the inspector, and the senior leadership team do not know the outcome of this investigation. Recent concerns regarding another staff member’s conduct were reported to the registered manager. However, no internal investigation was undertaken. The registered manager did not consult the designated officer in relation to either the allegations or the recent concern in relation to staff. Ofsted was not notified of these allegations, as required by regulation.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Monitoring of the staff team’s personal relationships is not effective. There was no assessment of the impact of two staff working together once it became known that Inspection report children's home: SC065374 5 they are in a relationship. There was no assessment of a new staff member, in relation to being related to another member of staff, as part of the recruitment process. This means any conflict of interests and/or potential risks are not understood or minimised to safeguard children effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager was not available to attend this inspection. The senior manager and the responsible individual were available during the inspection. The registered manager has made some progress in respect of the requirements following the last inspection. However, the manager’s quality of care monitoring report does not include feedback from children and stakeholders. The requirement made in respect of this is therefore repeated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Since the last inspection, there have been substantial changes in the staff team, following several members leaving the team. The remaining core staff team has worked additional hours to try to provide children with consistency of care. This has had a significant impact on the well-being of some staff because they have worked long hours for some months. Staff say that they do not feel supported by the registered manager, although they do feel that they can seek support from the senior leadership team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager has previously worked additional shifts to cover staff shortages. The registered manager has identified that this extra work has had an impact on their sense of well-being. The senior leadership team is aware of this and has addressed this in supervision sessions with the registered manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The inspector was informed that staff receive regular supervision sessions from the management team. However, supervision records were not available to review during this inspection. The responsible individual provides regular supervision sessions to the registered manager. Supervisions include appropriate monitoring of identified practice issues and agreed action plans to address these. However, this has not resulted in changes being made to practice in the home. Further practice issues were identified in a recent audit undertaken by the senior manager. However, the agreed action plan from this audit has not yet started to be implemented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Training provided to staff does not provide them with the knowledge and skills to support the needs of all the children they care for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monthly visits are undertaken by an independent person. Reports of these visits have identified areas for improvement. However, the identified actions have not made an impact on the quality of care in the home. Inspection report children's home: SC065374 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the 'Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards'. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children's home's overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children's needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)) 31 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

meet each child's behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child's behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child's age and 31 July 2022 Inspection report children's home: SC065374 7 understanding;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child's respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children's previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(v)(viii)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

*The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child's relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

that the home's day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(b)) 31 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children's home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; 31 July 2022 Inspection report children's home: SC065374 8 understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(a)(b) (2)(c)(d)(f))

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing—

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Requirement Due date

injury to any person (including the child);

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Requirement Due date

a child who is accommodated in a secure children's home from absconding from the home.

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)) 31 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 31 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child's behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used; 31 July 2022 Inspection report children's home: SC065374 9 the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)) 31 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children's home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(b) (5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that feedback from children and stakeholders is captured within the report. This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 Jul 2022 Inspection report children's home: SC065374 10 * This requirement is subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the management and leadership team are aware of the local offer setting out the support available for children with special educational needs or disabilities. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 26, paragraph 5.4)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the 'Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards'. Inspection report children's home: SC065374 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care Haven (UK) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Westminster House, 10 Westminster Road, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 1BX

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Patricia Swallow

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Inspector

Maria Lonergan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC065374 12 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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